CAN we put to bed the "myth" that supermarket sales of cheap alcohol and the smoking ban are responsible for pub closures up and down the country?

Being a non-smoker there is no greater reason for me to visit a pub now, knowing that my clothes and hair will no longer reek of cigarettes after a night out, an opinion voiced by many these days.

However, I still drink at home as I refuse to pay the exorbitant prices charged for alcohol in public houses.

Why should I pay £3.50 for a glass of wine when I can buy a bottle for that price from any off-licence, let alone a super-market?

Similarly, beer at £3 a pint is hard to swallow when I can get eight cans for a fiver, again from any off-licence or corner shop.

Shops do not sell alcohol as a loss leader, they profit on sales of it. It is the greed of the breweries and pub chains that has been the catalyst for the decline in trade.

There is a particular pub chain that sells booze far cheaper than its rivals, good luck to them.

If others follow suit they may see an improvement in sales, a better option methinks than the present profiteering attitude.

William Bell, ex-pub customer, Larkin Close, Bulkington.

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Raise your flags today

BRIAN WALKER'S letter (Your Say, February 13) about Coventry's REME Association did bring back memories of my service time from early 1944 to late 1948. My trade was electrician control equipment and my first posting was on attachment to a Royal Artillery anti-aircraft gun battery on Dengie Marshes in Essex, and finishing my time at the REME workshops in Singapore after VJ Day.

I think some of today's engineers would be astonished at how advanced some control systems were during the war. For example, the 3.7-inch anti-aircraft gun, right to the firing command, was a continuous loop from the 585 tracking radar, via the Bell Telephones Research Laboratories computer/predictor sending the gun laying information, including target altitude values for the automatic (radio proximity) fuse-setting device, and a signal to initiate auto-ammunition loading and breech closing. Fire!

However, on to Brian Walker's main point that we should be more patriotic. Yes we should, and fly not only St George's flag today, but also our Union Flag.

John R Lynch, Grendon Drive, Rugby.

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Kick abuse into touch

I WOULD like to endorse Chris Coleman on supporting the Coventry Telegraph's campaign to kick abuse of referees out of children's football.

To those parents who give the abuse, have they ever considered the role of the official or thought about training to becoming a referee themselves? They should be asking themselves about their responsibility on the touchline and support and respect the official's decision.

At the end of the day, it is only a game and not everyone can be a winner. It takes two sides to compete and a show of sportsmanship on both sides as well as the touchline may ensure that more volunteers could be willing to train to become referees.